Things to do with poems

Transcription

1 Things to do with poems Play taped readings of poems for pupils Read a poem, without discussion every day for a week. Invite children to prepare and read a poem for the class daily Display favourite poems on a poetry board. Change these regularly and put the old ones in a file which forms part of the class library In pairs/groups children work out ways of presenting different poems in dramatic form to the rest of the class. Pairs/groups prepare and tape their own readings of the same poem Teacher directs an all-class chorally spoken version. Use a tape-recorder for refinement. Remember sound effects! Groups prepare movement work to accompany reading of a poem. Children select photographs from magazines, newspapers to accompany poems. They could make montages. Episodic poems are presented in a frieze to be displayed around the room Well-liked poems are copied out by individuals into personal anthologies Pupils make posters with appropriate artwork to set off the text Children learn poems by heart! Choice of poem could be personal and lead not so much to a test as to a contribution in a group performance, perhaps around a theme. Pairs or groups are presented with the poem with particular words omitted and are asked to speculate what might best fit in. A poem is given to the class untitled. In pairs they propose titles, leading possibly to consensus. Compare with the poet s title Pairs/Groups are presented with a poem in segments to be placed in what they judge to be the best order. This is then compared with the full text of the poem. Pupils make a picture, painting, collage, fabric frieze, construction which illustrates the essence of a poem. 1

2 Invent the story of a poem. What has happened before? What is happening off stage? What will happen later? Pupils rework a poem in a different genre for example a newspaper article. What has been gained? What has been lost? Groups prepare a list of questions about a poem which they want to ask their teacher Pupils write a letter to a poet telling him or her what they thought of a particular poem Pupils identify and list all the colours, sounds, sights, tastes, smells mentioned and suggested in poems. Create a Poet-tree. On a large blank wall/notice-board, covered with backing paper, draw the outline of a tree trunk, branches and twigs. Then have a box of prepared paper leaves of a decent size and perhaps in different shades of green, in a permanent position near the wall. Over the next few weeks the children are encouraged to read as much poetry as possible; when they find something they like they put it on the tree. First they write the name of the poet in felttip on an empty branch. The name should be written quite large. Then they take a leaf and write the title of the poem on to it. The leaf is then attached to the poet s branch by its stem. If other poems by the same poet are enjoyed by the children, they can add a leaf for each poem to the same branch. Each new poet has a separate branch. It makes a wonderful wall display and is exciting to watch it grow. It is an effective visual record of the children s reading. As you can imagine, children recommend poems to others and they widen their knowledge of poetry very quickly. A variation of the above is to have theme trees the Seamus Heaney tree, the nonsense tree, the animal tree... 2

3 Fifth and Sixth class Poetry Project Aim of project: You will read a variety of poetry reflectively and choose your favourite poems to include in an anthology of personal favourites. Read as many poems as you possibly can. Keep a log of what you have read ( Title of poem, poet, what collection it s from, page number, your comment/reaction) You will have to choose no less than 10 favourites and no more than 15. Your choice must include poems that are happy, sad, humorous, about nature, old and modern. Also you may want to have poems by Irish poets, dead poets, and live poets. There are lots of choices. The important thing is to have variety. When you have made your final selection, write a rough note about why you liked each poem. Write or type each poem on a separate page. Don t forget to mention the poet s name. Under each poem write a short reason for including it in your collection. Check your work for spelling and punctuation. Ask a partner to double check. Illustrate/ decorate each page Design and make your front and back covers Before you bind your collection, make sure you have a table of contents and page numbers. HAPPY READING! 3

4 Recommended Poetry Titles Ahlberg, Alan Please Mrs. Butler.. Puffin Liz Attenborough, Ed. The Child s Book of Poems, Prayers and Meditations. Ed BBC Publications.I d like to be a Teabag.ISBN Cookson, Paul. Ed., The Works.. Macmillan Dunbar, Robert and Fitzmaurice Gabriel, Eds. Rusty Nails and Astronauts. Wolfhound Foster, John, Ed.My First Oxford Book of Poems. Oxford University Press McGough, Roger, Ed. The Kingfisher Book of Poems About Love, ISBN McGough, Roger. Ed., The Ring of Words. FaberandFaber McGough, Roger, Ed. The Kingfisher Book of Poems About Love, ISBN McGough, Roger,Pillow Talk, Puffin, ISBN MacMonagle, Niall.Real Cool Poems To Grown Up With,Martello, ISBN Moses, Brian, Ed. The Secret Lives of Teachers,MacMillan Publications, ISBN Morgan, Gaby, Ed. Read Me. MacMillan Publications, ISBN Morgan, Gaby, Ed Read Me 2. MacMillan Publications, ISBN Nicholls, Grace. Give yourself A Hug.. Puffin Oxford University Press. A Second Poetry Book.ISBN Oxford University Press A Third Poetry Book. ISBN X Oxford University Press A Fifth Poetry book ISBN Oxford University Press The OxfordTreasury of Christmas Poems ISBN Paten, Brian, Ed. The Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry ISBN Patten, Brian. Thawing Frozen Frogs. Puffin. ISBN Patten, Brian, Ed The Puffin Twentieth-Century Collection of Verse, Puffin, ISBN Rosen, Michael.You wait till I m older than you. Puffin. ISBN Rosen, Michael. You Tell Me. Puffin. ISBN Rosen, Michael, Ed. A World of Poetry. ISBN Silverstein, Shel, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN Traynor, Shaun. Ed. The Poolbeg Book of Irish Poetry for Children ISBN Kaye Webb, Ed. I like this Poem. Puffin

5 **This is a limited and subjective list of personal favourites. Local booksellers and librarians are another reliable source of recommendations. Comprehensive Bibliographies are also supplied in Book Choice for Primary Schools and in Changing Faces A Guide to Multicultural Books for Children Teachers could build their own collections of poems by compiling poems from English readers that are no longer in use in schools. It is a good idea to organised poems into categories for example nature poems, poems about people... Recommended resource books for teachers Brownjohn, Sandy. To Rhyme or not to Rhyme. Pub. Hodder and Stoughton, ISBN Belair Publications. Legend into Language. ISBN Belair Publications. Paint a Poem. ISBN Belair Publications. Words with Wings. ISBN Belair Publications. Language in Colour. ISBN Belair Publications. Rainbow Year. ISBN Belair Publications. Art for Writing. ISBN Debra Kuzbik. Ready, Set, Write. Peguin Publishers, ISBN X Pushkin Schools Programme Support Materials for Teachers. Pushkin Prizes Trust, Baronscourt, Newtownstewart, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT78 4EZ, Northern Ireland. Rosen, Michael. Did I hear you write? Pub. Five Leaves, ISBN Scholastic. Bright Ideas Writing and Making Books. ISBN Scholastic. Bright Ideas Writing. ISBN